Shirin Boman
Shirin Boman | |
|---|---|
 Boman (second from left) presenting Proclamation of Bahá’u’lláh to the President of Bangladesh. | |
| Born | October 6, 1911 Mumbai, India |
| Died | February 12, 2002 Indore, India |
| Other names | Shirin Irani |
| NSA member | India & Burma 1954 - 1959 India 1959 - 1969 |
| ABM | Asia ???? - 1964 |
| Counsellor | Western Asia 1969 - 1973 South Central Asia 1973 - 1980 Asia 1980 - 1985 |
Shirin Boman (October 6, 1911 - February 12, 2002) was an Indian Bahá’í who served as a National Spiritual Assembly member and Continental Counselor in Asia.
Background[edit]
Boman was born into a Persian family in Mumbai, India, in 1911.[1][2] Her father, Bahman Irani, had moved to India from Iran in 1890. He passed when his children were young and while his wife was a Bahá’í she did not know much about the religion. Shirin and her younger brother studied the religion intensively in their youth of their own accord and reaffirmed as Bahá’ís.[3] In 1926 she married Behram Boman Mehrabani and they had six children including daughters Tahirah who married Khodadad Vajdi,[4] Ruhiyyih,[5] and Perin.[6][2]
The Boman's served as travel teachers in the 1930's touring western and central India and they accompanied Martha Root to Indore in April 1938 and helped organize for her to give a public lecture. As of 1940 the Boman's had settled in Mumbai and Shirin was serving as secretary of the Mumbai Local Spiritual Assembly but in December 1941 they decided to pioneer aiming to move to Varanasi. The train they intended to catch to Varanasi was cancelled and they remained in Bhopal for a few days before deciding to instead pioneer to Ujjain and their efforts resulted in a Local Spiritual Assembly being established in 1942. They pioneered again to Gwalior around 1947.[7]
In November 1953 Boman accompanied the Hand of the Cause Dorothy Baker during her visit to India serving as a translator. She was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of India & Burma the following year and served on the body until 1959 when it was split into independent National Assemblies and she was then elected to the inaugural National Spiritual Assembly of India.[8]
As of 1961 Boman had been appointed as an Auxiliary Board member in addition to continuing to serve on the National Spiritual Assembly,[9] and that year she helped instigate mass teaching campaigns in Ujjain, Indore, and Madhya Pradesh inspired by the advice and example of Hand of the Cause Raḥmatu’lláh Muhájir.[10] In 1963 she visited the Holy Land for the First International Convention casting a vote for the Universal House of Justice in the election at which it was established.[11] The same year she spoke on mass teaching at the First Bahá’í World Congress held at Royal Albert Hall in London, England.[12] Her husband passed due to a car accident while traveling to teach the Faith near Gwalior in 1963.[13]
In 1964 Boman accompanied Rúḥíyyih Khánum when she visited India, Nepal, and Sikkim,[2] and in 1965 she traveled across India to follow up on mass teaching successes across the country.[14] In 1967 she opened the Intercontinental Teaching Conference in New Delhi and was a member of a Bahá’í delegation which met with the President of India in her capacity as chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly of India.[15]
In 1969 Boman was appointed as a Continental Counselor for Western Asia succeeding Mas’ud Khamsi who had left Asia to pioneer to South America.[16] In 1972 she was a member of a Bahá’í delegation which presented Bahá’í literature to the President of Bangladesh.[17] In 1973 the Universal House of Justice established a new Continental Board for South Central Asia and Boman was appointed to the new jurisdiction as Counselor.[18] She traveled extensively across South Central Asia as Counselor and in March 1978 she traveled abroad to visit Trinidad and Tobago delivering many talks and being interviewed by local media.[19]
In 1980 the Universal House of Justice merged the Continental Boards for Asia into a single body and introduced five year terms and Boman was appointed to the new body for one five year term.[20] After completing her service as Counselor in 1985 Boman continued to actively serve the Faith and in December 1986 she facilitated sessions at a Conference held to mark the completion of the New Delhi House of Worship.[21] In 1991 she visited Canada and was involved in teaching activities.[22]
Boman passed away in Indore, India, in 2002 and the Universal House of Justice noted that her services to the religion were "inspiring" and "enriched the annals of the Indian Baha'i community.".[2]
References[edit]
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 1113. View as PDF.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (2003). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 30 (2001-2002), Pg(s) 303. View as PDF. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "bwobit" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Moojan Momen & Juan Cole, From Iran East and West, Kalimat, 1984, p 182
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 957. View as PDF.
- ↑ Dorothy Gilstrap, From Copper to Gold: The Life of Dorothy Baker, George Ronald: Oxford, 1984, p 439
- ↑ Dorothy Gilstrap, From Copper to Gold: The Life of Dorothy Baker, George Ronald: Oxford, 1984, p 440
- ↑ https://www.h-net.org/~bahai/bhpapers/vol5/indiabf.htm
- ↑ Dorothy Gilstrap, From Copper to Gold: The Life of Dorothy Baker, George Ronald: Oxford, 1984, p 440
- ↑ Baha'i News (1961). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 367, Pg(s) 8. View as PDF.
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 957. View as PDF.
- ↑ Rabbani, Ruhiyyih (Ed.) (1992). The Ministry of the Custodians 1957-1963. Bahá’í World Centre. ISBN 0-85398-350-X., p 410.
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1974). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 14 (1963-1968), Pg(s) 61. View as PDF.
- ↑ https://bahai-library.com/garlington_malviya_letter
- ↑ Baha'i News (1965). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 417, Pg(s) 14. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1967). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 441, Pg(s) 32. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1969). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 463, Pg(s) 1. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1972). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 496, Pg(s) 15. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1973). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 509, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1978). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 569, Pg(s) 12. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (February 1981). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 599, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1987). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 671, Pg(s) 1. View as PDF.
- ↑ Canadian Baha'i News, Vol. 4(7), p 19
